There are well known a wide variety of military aircraft which are provided with carriage means for carrying stores such as missiles or bombs with respect to the craft structure. For example, it is well known to mount missiles, rockets, bombs or the like (hereinafter referred to generally as stores) on fixed pylons which project beneath the wings of an aircraft. The stores are retained by the pylons in transit to a target for selective launch, firing or release of the stores from the pylons at the discretion of the pilot or other operator on board the aircraft.
There are also known in the art devices for carrying such stores in a transit position and for selectively deploying the stores to a release position for firing, launch or release thereof. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,440,365 of Holtrop discloses a launch mechanism which carries a store close to the body of an aircraft and, in preparation for launch, displaces the store in an arcuate or circular trajectory away from the aircraft by means of a swing arm structure that is pivotally constrained to the aircraft. According to the Holtrop patent, release of the store occurs automatically as the pivotally movable arms which carry the store reach the deployed position.
It is further considered desirable in the art to carry stores on an aircraft in a conformal or semi-conformal orientation with respect thereto. Conformal stowage of stores eliminates disruption of air flow over the exterior surfaces of the aircraft which will otherwise occur if conformal stowage is not used, thereby reducing or eliminating the resultant drag.
Conformal stowage of stores can be difficult to achieve due to limitations on the amount of stowage space available within the craft profile. For example, fully conformed stowage for wing-carried stores has posed difficult design problems. Thus, the art has also contemplated semi-conformal configurations in which stores are carried for transit partially within a pocket or cavity formed in the aircraft structure, with adjacent exterior surfaces of the wing or fuselage being faired out to blend with projecting portions of the stores and thereby minimize disruption of air flow over the adjacent surfaces.
As has been noted, conformal or semi-conformal carriage of stores is a highly desirable objective which can be instrumental in reducing aircraft power requirements thereby creating the opportunity for design improvements in fuel economy and flight range. However, attempts to develop conformal or semi-conformal stowage for stores have not been entirely successful.
For example, the prior art of deployable store carriage as represented by the above-cited Holtrop patent has made no provision for deployment and retraction of the store carriers independent of store firing or launch. According to the Holtrop patent, release of the store occurs automatically as the store carriage apparatus reaches its deployed position. Thus, once the deployment decision has been made and executed, store launch is an inevitable consequence. In addition, the prior art makes no provision for jettisoning stores, as an alternative to normal launch thereof, in a deployable aircraft-carried launch apparatus. Still further, the prior art has not contemplated apparatus for carrying multiple stores on a common, deployable carriage apparatus.